Tagged!

I Got Tagged! Nearly a month back. Blame it on my 'short term' memory loss, I completely forgot about it till clone-ji reminded me. I was almost tempted to copy-paste the contents of his blog as there were striking similarities in our likes/dis-likes :)
But I completely assure you that none of the contents of this blog are ^C and ^V-ed. Every single character in this blog is a result of me hitting the key board on one sleepy Thursday afty! Before I start with my long list lemme stretch myself and give a loud yawwwwwwwwwwwn! :D

Things That Drive Me Mad:

1) People who are not at close to me invading my personal space. It gets extremely frustrating when circumstances force me to keep my mouth shut. ggrrrr.. Wish I could lash my tongue out at them.

2) The influential and the rich showing their 'power' in temples. This is something which I have seen in almost every temple I've visited. It sometimes make me wonder - Will God really bless them when they are blissfully taking darshan for hours together when hundreds and thousands of other devotees are being made to wait for hours and being deprived of darshan

3) People not taking care of books that they borrow from me and return it back in a tattered condition. Also, I feel bad all over when they come up with excuses like "Did I take the book from you? I don't remember. You must have misplaced it some where". Right!

4) People who think it's ok to talk in their mother tongue when none of the other junta in the group know what the hell is going on. How can people be so insensitive?

5) Kids who think its their birth right to yell away to glory in movie theaters/trains/buses. Even worse, their parents admiring them instead of admonishing them.

6) Traffic jam!!!! gggrrrrrrrrrr.

7) Power-cut when a cricket match is going on. Nothing can be as frustrating as that!

8) Unclean bathrooms - Also, people who live in the illusion that no one will use the bath room after them and leave the room slippery with soap traces in the corners. Ugh! Another corollary - Unclean and smelly toilets.Yuck! Need I say more?

9) When I have to eat with some one who eats/drinks noisily. Gives me a feeling that I am sitting next to a buffalo!

10) Himesh Reshamaiyya. Guess I will stop it here. Am planning to write a separate blog on how much I love to hate his music and voice.

11) DOGS!! Maaaan..I can't stand them.

12) The never ending TV serials. Also the host of reality shows that every channel dishes out.

13) People from the rest of India having preconceived notions that all 'Madrasis' are inferior to them because they eat only idli/vada, don't know a word of Hindi and speak English with a Tamil accent.

14) I have to spend the whole day out in Chennai when the temperature is close to 40 degrees with humidity of 80 % .

15) BANGALORE! Agreed that Bengalaroo is my karma bhoomi but sometimes I wish I could run away from here.



Things That Lift My Spirits:

1) When any of my dear friends call me when I least expect! It really cheers me up and makes my day.

2) I get to reach office in less than an hour! On such days I feel that things will go right in office, come what may and believe me it does :) (like today)

3) When I hear my favorite song in radio/tv after a loooong time.

4) Browsing in an uncrowded book shop for hours together. Aaah Heaven!

5) Spending the whole weekend in slumber land. :)

6) Dreaming that something I was really wishing for came true. It really lifts my spirits and I get it done!

7) Hanging around with my friends and having a good time. I get a real high in pulling my friends leg especially Sanjay, Jagadeshwari and Gayathri.

8) Solving a complex problem at work.

9) Getting to watch an interesting absorbing cricket match with a nail biting finish.

10) Hogging lotsa chocolates without any concern of putting on weight and later realizing that I have not gained any kilos at all. Wish this could happen all the time!

11) The very thought of settling in some city where all my friends are my next door neighbors! ( If this happens, I wouldn't mind living in Bangalore!)

12) Eating out in my favorite restaurant! If it's a treat the joy doubles!

13) Ma massaging my hair and me drifting to sleep.

14) Trying out a dress when I am shopping and realizing that it fits me and suits me perfectly!

15) Early morning walks at Sankey Tank. Aaah. The very thought of it cheers me up. Trust me it's nature at it's best - the cold but gentle morning breeze greeting me when I enter the compound, birds chirping away incessantly, scores of fish bobbing in and out from water to eat the puffed rice that people throw, water snakes darting in the lake from time to time, the occasional kingfisher diving in the lake for its morning kill, the scent of flowers that have just bloomed...I get to experience all this just a km away from home!
(Wonder why BMP had to do renovation work there when things were just perfect. :( The whole place is a clay mountain now)

16) Some one appreciating my voice. I don't sing that well.. still.. it really encourages me.


Since this is the first time I am into 'tagging' I have no idea on how to carry it forward. Suggestions are most welcome!

Pattern in a Singleton's life!

Note: The lines enclosed in [ ] are the gibberish thoughts that go thro' my mind.

At 14:00 hours, when I try to get back to work, fighting sleep - the messenger window pops up

Friend: Hi Visa, U knw, my marriage is fixed!!!!!! engagement is scheduled next week.. marriage will be after 2 months.. Am so excited!!!!
Me: WOW! Congrats..Way to Go..
[The chat then drifts about info about the bride/bride groom. Then the bouncer arrives]
Friend: BTW what about you lady. When are u gonna get married?
Me: Later. mebbe sometime next year.
Friend: Why so late?
Me: Next year is right time for me..
Friend: I don't think so. These things must not be postponed.
Me: Rite now I want to concentrate on my career and I want to be single for some more time. I enjoy my single status.
Friend: U are being crazy.... YAK. YAK. YAK
[This goes on for atleast 2 hours. sigh]

After a long day at work, Am about to get into my house..
[Home sweet home.....WOW! I can crash in a minute!]
Neighbour hood Aunty: Hi Beti, Why are you coming so late from office?
[ Oh Man..Not again. Why do they always time their entry???? ]
Me: [Force myself a grin] Had loads of work
Aunt: Tut.Tut. [Didn't know how to type the chuckle of a lizard!]This is bad. You are burning yourself.
Me: Well, it happens once in a while.
Aunt: ohh..ok.. [she now examines me from head to toe.. suddenly a shrill shriek] Hai Raaaaaaam. What am I seeing? You have gray hair.
Me: I know..a couple of them. Been there for a while.
Aunt: I can see more than two. And you are not even married!!!!! Who will marry you now? As it is it's very late.. you should have been married by now. But now, what will happen? You work whole day. You come from office late. You have gray hair. Eeeeeeee..I will put on a word to your ma. It is high time we find groom for you. BLAH.. BLAH..
Me:[What the hell. Why don't you leave me alone! I get grey hair 'coz of the stress I get in dealing with jerks like you]
Aunt: I must tell this to other people also.. Arreee Devi. where are you ?
Me: [Goodness gracious. I must escape now.!!!!!!]

This is the routine pattern that is emerging in the last few weeks. Not a single day passes by without hearing some friend of mine getting engaged/hooked. Trust me it's the same story everywhere. Be it my school pals, college friends, MCA gang, colleagues in office, neighbours... the list is endless. Well it's perfectly ok with me if folks wanna get settled in life. But what bothers me the most is the taunting question - "What about you? When are you going to settle in life"

Why can't people get it in between their ears that I have made a conscious decision to focus on my career and not get hooked atleast for another year or so. Well people may argue with me that I can also get married and focus on my career at the same time. But somehow I find this to be strange and I am very much sure it aleast wouldn't work in my case. Nevertheless, all my pleading falls into deaf ears and wherever I go I face the same mocking question again and again. It's as if my single status is a matter of national importance? Ha!

As I am typing this I get to know one of my juniors is getting married.. Oh man! Not again. Time to go invisible in Messenger!

It's yet another V-Day this year...

The whole world seems to be painted red. Almost all magazines/news papers/radio/tv channels have a 'red' supplement suggesting the ideal formula for Valentine's Day -- flowers, chocolates, teddies, dinner, movie..blah blah.

All this makes me wonder.. Does everyone get to have a real good time on Valentine's? How many are fortunate to get those special gifts on V-Day?
(BTW I aint talking about the romantic aspect of V-Day here. Just spending the day in a special way with friends)

I had always wanted to V-day to be a special day, with me receiving lotsa gifts and of course me gifting others also. But in my 20 odd years of existence, V-day has been like any other ordinary day. In my school/college days no one (atleast in my gang) paid much attention to it. It was during my MCA days in Pune that V-Day actually meant something to me.The first 2 years were spent in heading out somewhere with my pals to celebrate (don't remember much of it now tho'). The last year of my MCA days were special to me.. for all reasons.. including V-Day. What started out like an ordinary day turned out to be a perfect day.. perfect V-Day with my deal pal Sanjay.

The day began like any other day in student life - Lectures scheduled in morning (Think it was COM/DCOM elective!). After that we decided to head to the Ahobila Mutt in Pashan as it had been a while since I had darshan of Mr Balaji and also to smack the yummy prasad! ;) We headed back to Sanjay's flat to lunch/relax and have fun with the remaining gang - Akash, Ankit, Cheety, Manoj, Praveen, Tabu.

Sanju and I had booked tickets for a flick at E-Square not realizing that it was scheduled on Feb 14th. I was all very excited about it 'coz it will be the first time I will be stepping inside a multiplex and yes, the movie promised of a great and original idea based on Ramayan (Guesses anyone ? ;) ) .
Unfortunately it turned out to be a blooper. :( Nevertheless we had a good time passing comments [ sometimes raunchy ones ;) ]. Since we were living on a frugal student budget we sneaked in channa, biscuits and other eatables and were extremely pleased and proud of ourselves for getting past the security check!

Post movie we bumped into several other junta from dept and we sold the crap movie we'd seen as an amazing work. Believe me it worked!
(Hehehe. How can ppl be so gullible!) We then strolled across all the shops in the complex, ogled at all the couples there and cracked jokes about them. Sanju then convinced me to check out some earrings at a stall (I was never keen on earrings till then) and after sifting through several earrings much to the shopkeeper's annoyance he showed me a pair of danglers. I instantly fell in love with 'em and it looked great on me. (My obsession with all these fancy earrings began from that day. Blame Sanjay for this!) When I decided to buy them Sanju tells me that this is his V-Day gift for me! I was elated. My very first V-Day Gift! My unfulfilled dream for several years coming true when I least expected it! WOW! I then made an impromptu decision to gift Sanjay something. It then struck me that he always wanted to read 'Pride and Prejudice'. Without his knowledge I sneaked into the Crossword store hoping that they have the book. Thankfully, I found a collectors edition of the book and I got it gift wrapped at a break-neck speed. (You see Sanju was hunting for me wondering where the hell I was!) When I gifted the book to him - The smile in his face was priceless(Like a popular ad says)

As a person who always likes surprises, I felt very special, glad and thrilled that evening. I was on cloud nine for my unrealised dream to come true unexpectedly!

P.S - The next V-Day turned out to be a boring one. I guess this V-Day will turn out to be as dull and boring like the First 2 India-Pak test matches. Wudn't the dream come true once again? :(

I knew that we will lose!

Scene -
The final test match between India and Pak.
After a relatively good 1st day in the test match we let the match slip to Pak's hands.
India now has to score a daunting total of 607 in 2 days.

Will India win?

Sadly we lost the match by a mammoth 300 odd runs and the thought that will be going in almost every Indian's mind now will be "I knew this will we will lose!"
The familiar scene of the top order getting rattled and the rest of the team falling like a pack of cards.

Why is that the team that consists of world class batsmen choke? For how many years do we have to witness this?

Why can't we win matches abroad? Agreed that the pitches abroad will have an advantage to the home team, but if we boast of a specialist batting line-up can't these 'world-class' batsman play in pitches away from India?
Why do we batsmen perish so cheaply tho' the top 4 batsmen boast of an experience of 340 tests.

IMO (most of them) are a bunch of paper tigers who can play only in Indian pitches tailor made for them and occassionaly show some 'sparks' to better their personal records and fetch new endorsements. There are some of them, despite being in patchy form are still in the team b'coz of the accolades they have received in the years of yore!

And yes, one final thought to ponder - Did the high profile coach with his 'down under' methods was of any help?

(Brick-bats are most welcome!)